I absolutely LOVE living in a ranch style house (1 floor) with 3 young children. My house is a bit cozy for 5 of us at 1430 square feet, but I've got a 1 acre lot that is flat, and a fully finished basement that runs the length of the entire house. The schools are fantastic where we are and I really can't see moving anytime in the future.

Will probably take some convincing, since it will involve getting rid of some of her prized crap stuff hoarded junk possessions.

The word you're looking for is "treasures".

I will have been in my home for 13 years in May. 1615 sq ft, 5000 sq ft lot. Basic tract home. When we moved in the step kids were 12 and 14. Was a bit tight but it's what the budget allowed for. Like ty, we bought it as a dirt lot and picked everything out ourselves - the number of decorating choices were more limited in 2000 than they are today.

Now, only one kid is still at home (she'll be 25 this summer). The house feels a bit bigger but the wife and I have talked about something just a bit larger.

the other nice thing about a ranch like that (I grew up in that same basic house) is that it is really easy, if you have a large flat back yard, to expand it out the back. A nice great room and expanded kitchen can do wonders to make the house more livable as the kids grow up. And that is the easiest kind of addition.

Michael, that sounds about like what I want to move to. And I would have to build it myself. a 1.5 story I would guess you would call it. a nice open main floor with a big country kitchen/great room, with a study at the front and a master bedroom suite on the first floor. And a finished basement with a bar, etc.

2nd floor will be an open loft area, with 2 bedrooms and a bath for when the kids or guests come to visit.

one of the car magazines (automobile or C&D) recently had a piece on taking a mini cooper convertible on some road to the top of the world (some mountain) and that was a place it certainly was never meant to go.

There's something to be said for owning a house that's under 2K sq ft that's all on one level. Ours is just a little under (something like 1995 sq ft), which is plenty to clean and maintain for my wife and I. In retrospect, I'd have looked for a house on a smaller lot, but I do like having some distance between us and our neighbors and I would hate to give up the pond in back. Funny thing is, our previous house was around 1600 sq. ft and it always felt small, but I think that was because it had no master, no 2nd bath, a very tiny kitchen and the detached garage was essentially a brothel for brown recluse spiders and scorpions. That circa 1929 house also lacked the open floor plan favored by many buyers these days, but it did exude charm and featured craftsmanship missing in many newer houses including our current one.

Best part of a sub 2K house in the midwest is affordability and financial flexibility. Our mortgage is so damn reasonable and will be paid off in 7 years. Maybe by that point I'll have a car sales story to contribute

I had that Lexus GS350 last year and it sure sounded a bit too "butch" for a 3.5 liter V-6. I knew they had put audio enhancements on that car. My Mercedes sounds super throaty and there are no enhancements on that car.

I could see them enhancing the engine roar on the F Sport GS350, but to put it on the basic GS350 is a bit too much IMHO. There are many mature drivers down here who have complained about their GS350's being too noisy. There is one parked next to my car and the old geezer complains all the time about his noisy engine. I explained to him that Lexus has an enhancer on the engine to make that throaty sound. He said he tried to get Lexus to take it off, but they refused as it would affect his warranty. That's ridiculous!

Lexus is trying to change its image to attract a younger buyer as opposed to an upper class older driver which was their market niche for many years. Only the ES350 still appeals to the older driver while the rest of their line is definitely aimed at the 20's - 50's.

"Happy birthday to me! No, not that birthday which is in January from a far distant year. It was one year ago today that I received a bone marrow stem cell transplant. I've made a year - I expect to make many more.

Thanks go to everyone who got me through this. Top guy is the donor who doesn't know me from Adam but now that it's a year I can find out who and where he is and thank him profusely. There are other folks who spent a load of time with me for the four plus months I was in NYC my brothers John, Jim and Jeff, my wife Jennifer, good friens Mary Ledwith and Carol Zsiga and I apologize to a anyone I left out. My brain isn't as young as my blood. Lots of people helped in other ways. Jeff Kase came and spent a weekend as a caregiver despite the fact that until he did that we technically hadn't met. Kevin Keck put in some good time, too.

My brother Jerry could only make it to do caregiver duty the first weekend the doctors allowed me to visit home but I have proof he registered to do that so we give him credit. He also sent me hours (actually days or weeks) of music some of which can be appreciated by human ears mixed with some that make dogs cringe. Everyone who was part of the Friends of Steve LaSala group especially Jim and Teri, Jeff and Mary and all the others who made it possible. Thanks to Skype I was able to see it all despite the event being in Denville while I was in New York.

I've left people out. Please forgive. I'm grateful to every one of you. Can't believe how good it feels to be OK again.

Just got a special email from Mercedes in Sindelfingen, Germany, where the new car is awaiting transport to the exit port for shipment to the United States. Sindelfingen is the city where they produce and assemble the new 2014 E Class Sport and Luxury sedans.

Since my name and other info is on the order form sent to them, they wanted me to know the status of my new car and to thank me for my order.

They wanted to make sure I was not taking European Delivery so they could transport the car to the dock.

stick - the restrictions are still on because they want better t cell and platelet counts. I can live with that. Been a good day. Went out to dinner with my wife, the younger daughters (the older ones couldn't make and felt bad about it) and a good friend who is one of the people I mention who took up a great deal more than her fair share of seeing me through this. Got a few little presents. Nice.

I'm a little confused about the top options. Maybe you could shed some light for me. Jeep comes with the soft top, standard. The hard top is optional (black or body color). If you get the hard top, does it delete the soft top unless you get the "dual top group?" What's the difference between the standard soft top & the sun rider soft top?

Jeep comes with the soft top, standard. The hard top is optional (black or body color). If you get the hard top, does it delete the soft top unless you get the "dual top group?" What's the difference between the standard soft top & the sun rider soft top?

You got it correct.

Standard: Soft topOption: Add hard top, delete soft topOption: Dual top group: It comes with the hard top, and the soft top is rolled up/folded inside.

"Sunride from Bestop is a Jeep soft top that allows you to peel the top back and let the sun shine in - perfect for those days of constantly changing weather conditions."

They move the vehicles to where they have reservations. Miami is a large airport and they always need vehicles there. Ditto for Orlando and Tampa and we are cheaper than a car carrier and more efficient. Like yesterday, we did 4 runs from West Palm to Miami...now that's 40 vehicles and we did it in about 10 hours as we can't tell how traffic will be. Much cheaper and more efficient. Today they needed less vehicles so they only had four trips between two groups. I suspect this weekend will be quite busy with folks coming down and going back up so many vehicles will be needed.

We have a Versa SL with the CVT and it is a very good vehicle. Once the sound of the CVT is understood, it really is no problem. It's just that the noise bothers folks used to a traditional slushbox but really, the CVT is more efficient and has plenty of power for anything it needs to do. I'm so used to it now I never ever notice it. Once I get back into the other vehicles, I miss it actually.

Our house is 1900 under air and the perfect size especially now that the kids are all gone. Cheap to keep and not to bad to keep clean...we have the service come in every six weeks now instead of every three weeks. Since we paid it off back in '95, life just seems so much better as we don't have to worry every month anymore, so I guess all those years of scrimping and saving and driving older vehicles did pay off. We decided long ago to never have more house than we needed and this size still fits us. The oldest is coming down tomorrow night and sleeping over as she's meeting her friends on Saturday for brunch. It's nice to have the room for her to do this whenever as I miss hanging out with the kids now that they really have flown the coop. But am very glad when they do go home...we have the best of both worlds!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Have been working now for two months and they've been the best months of my life actually. Hard to believe that just over a year ago I was so depressed about my constant pain and never thought I'd ever work again. But thanks to G-d up above, I learned that I had to incorporate my pain into my life and stop letting it run my life and now when I have a really bad day, like yesterday, I just acknowledge it and move on. It's the mindset that makes all the difference!

Haven't been posting much lately, it's been a sad week for our family. I didn't say anything but my Stepdad had been in the hospital with unexplained respiratory issues for the last month. Two different hospitals actually. In the end it was determined he had respiratory onset ALS. This is the worst form as all the late stage symptoms attack you first. He had been complaining about breathing / swallowing issues for six- eight months and was to many doctors but all tests came out normal.

He had many complications in the hospital needing to be put on a ventilator three times and progressed to the point of not even being able to swallow or eat. The only option was a tracheotomy and a feeding tube. He declined this treatment as he would never be able to talk again and would only suffer longer. His message to us was to "get me the $&@? home". On Friday 3/22 we got him home with hospice care and on Sunday morning 3/24 he passed away. He was 65.

We miss him already and the amount of support from our family and friends was nothing short of astonishing. There was close to 400 people at his viewing.